Here we go again 72kg

02-14-2012, 01:06 AM

Looking at purchasing a sweet potato ,just not sure on which size .at the moment I surf a speed square (bing) 4'6 with roughly 36ltr of volume great board but not so good on those mushy days when you need a quick take off and not so good when the swell gets a bit bigger.also surf a rake mini simmons 5x22x2 3/4 with a volume of 37ltr so was thinking either 5'6 or5,4 for those onshore days and tiny surf. Been surfing 2 1/2 years 72kg 43years old ,surfing in shitty metro Perth , down the beach 12 hours a week average surfer trying to get better what do you recommend ?

That speed square looks fun!!!. Given that you have surf that little of a board, the 5'2"will have plenty f flotation for you.
You already have boards for the smaller conditions, have you considered diverting to something a bit more towards the small-mid range waves like the spitfire on the 5'8"-5'10"?. The baked potato is a model coming that could be interesting for you if you want to keep on the mini simmons frame of mind

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Cheers iggy ,yeah the only thing is in Perth ( western Australia ) 9 times out of 10 it's small surf .when u go out for a surf it's so busy and there's lots of long boarders and sup's you need a board to compete with them but is still fun .so I was looking for a board with enough volume to keep up with these guys but still throw around.so a 5'6 will be to much volume? 38.6 .
With the volumes with an epoxy are they different to a pu board .what I mean is I did a rough estimate with the speed square 4'6 x22.75x3=about 36ltr and the5'4 being 35ltr will they be similar or will the 5'4 be more floaty ?

Had a 5'6" and sold it to get a 5'2".
It felt like too much volume for me, but with that thing I could catch anything and everything, floated over sections like nothing and it was yet performant. It all depends what you want the board for.
The difference between the boards is the way the volume is distributed along the plane area.The overall design of the potato will make this board tighter in the turns than the mini simmons for sure. The potato was conceived for small waves and sometimes people choose them a bit too small compromising the original purpose of the stick. If you're competing with the long boarders I would not go over 5'6". I think the 5'4" will be a good intermediate point between wave catch ability and performance

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Hey Webster, I pretty much had a similar dilemma to you around Xmas time. I'm 70 kg, live in Perth and wanted something that I could turn yet compete with the longboarders. I was choosing between the 5'2 or 5'4, and after much deliberation I got the 5'4. Awesome board. It did take a few surfs to get used to, and to be honest, I am far from mastering the board. However, I absolutely love riding it and haven't been on my El Fuego (5'9, which is awesome to ride at shoulder to head high Trigg - super fast and responsive) since I got it. It is just so much fun and a wave catching machine. Im catching waves at spots the longboarders surf, it's unbelievable. Furthermore, it's a pretty responsive board, as long as you have your back foot on the tail. I've got a set of controller fins in, although I'm thinking of getting some Scimitars as I have read they are looser than the controllers, which should help in the crappy small surf we get here. Ultimately Webster, I think either board will do what you want it to. Don't do what I did and procrastinate, just get one!!

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Hi —*sounds like the 40kg guys are netting out between the 5'2" and 5'4" range on the Sweet Spud.

Unfortunately, I am a yankee, and incapable of doing conversion to pounds. Makes my head hurt. My specs are: Int / Adv surfer, 50 yrs old, pretty top condition, athletically, and I weigh 153 lbs naked and wet. I'm surfing Long Island waters off of NYC, that means most of the year in some kind of rubber; 3/2 in summer up to 6mm in winter. What's that, an additional 10 lbs?

My calculations from the Volumator seem to suggest the following sizes in the two boards I am perv'ing for:

5'3" Baked Potato
5'2" or 5'4" Sweet Po

I would love to hear what you experienced-with-Firewire-board-owner guys think on this subject. Here's what I'd love from this board —*We get lots of days with sloppy, weak, gutless, unambitious, slothful surf. Still, a guy's got to paddle out, right? I'd like to *catch* these waves, and then, once up, I prefer to make turns close to what resembles a pocket, as opposed to gliding down what looks like a line (hence my interest in the slightly tuned Baked jobbie). The thing I do want to avoid is feeling like I am on something with too much float and a lack of responsiveness.